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Lawnmower blades
Lawnmower blades were a common form of rotating weapon that were seen in the original and international series of Robot Wars. The first robot to be equipped with them was Victor in Series 2, while the most successful was US competitor Conquering Clown 2, which reached the Grand Final in Season 2 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors with this weapon. Definition Lawnmower blades refer to thin spinning blades made out of plastic or metal, usually taken from a petrol/gas-powered lawnmower. They are lighter and usually more compact than the equivalent bar spinners, with the distinction that lawnmower blades are generally specialised to cut and scratch other robots rather than tear, gouge and concuss. Because lawnmower blades can bend and warp fairly easily, they were usually mounted at an angle so that the bladed part did not directly strike opponents. Another common method to solidify the weapon was to mount two or more blades vertically and connect them on the ends of a shared axle, as demonstrated by the weapons of Run Away and the Series 5 version of Sabretooth. It is important to note that some robots which are labeled as having lawnmower blades for weapons do not fall into this category. Robots equipped with blades taken from a push mower, such as Blade, are classified as drum-wielding robots. Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages *Lawnmower blades require less time and money to design and build than most other spinning weapons, and are usually lighter as well. *Their simplistic design ensures that they are easy to repair or replace between battles. *Depending on their size and power, lawnmower blades can deal a reasonable amount of damage to opponents' armour and chassis. The weapons of Little Fly, 6 Million Dollar Mouse, the Series 5 version of Sabretooth and Conquering Clown 2 were all able to inflict considerable damage during each robot's appearances. **If placed at an angle, a lawnmower blade can easily get at the opponent's underside, further increasing its damage potential. *They can be compatible with invertible designs, as proven by Jabber and Not Perfect. Disadvantages *Because lawnmower blades are usually very light and thin compared to bar spinners, they have a tendency to bend and break if they sustain too much damage after a certain amount of hits. The blade of Conquering Clown 2, for example, was bent out of shape following repeated attacks from Sir Force A Lot in US Season 2, while Dark Destroyer's weapon compressed on itself by the end of its Series 3 battle with Sgt. Meikle. *They have a tendency to stop rotating upon making contact with metal, reducing their damage potential against well-armoured robots. Little Fly was especially susceptible to this issue in Series 4, where while it was able to immobilise Weld-Dor 2 and cause damage to Mousetrap's front, it was not able to cut through the latter's trap mechanism. *Many lawnmower blades can have a small attack area and often leaves them exposed. This was best demonstrated in Jabber's melee, where Mantis was able to avoid the blade entirely to pick up and crush it. List of Robots with Lawnmower Blades Robots are listed alphabetically. Category:Weapon Types Category:Robots with Lawnmower Blades